De Notenkraker, 16 maart 1907 / In dagen van crisis Possibly 1907

This is a cover of De Notenkraker from March 16, 1907, by Albert Hahn and it’s printed, of course. Just black ink on paper, but look how much he gets out of it! The texture comes from the build up of tiny dots, a process we can almost feel in our fingertips. The guy on the right, grabbing at the queen's cloak, is all nervous energy. He's practically vibrating with desperation. See the way Hahn renders his suit, that jittery feeling is all in those tiny marks. Now, shift your eye to the queen's cloak. Those dark teardrops are repeated in a neat pattern. Like the pattern of raindrops on a window. They give the whole thing a strange sense of calm. That contrast reminds me of Phillip Guston, who found ways to pack difficult social commentary into simple, approachable forms. And that kind of tension, that’s what makes the image so memorable, so charged with feeling. It's that conversation, between panic and order, which stays with you.